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August 1, 2024 (Port Sudan) – U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed deep concern over the official declaration of famine in Sudan’s Zamzam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp and urged the warring parties to allow the free flow of humanitarian aid.
The Famine Review Committee (FRC) Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) assessment concluded that famine conditions are prevalent in parts of North Darfur, including in the Zam Zam refugee camp in El Fasher.
As a result, displacement caused by the war in Sudan and restricted humanitarian access have led to famine in camps for hundreds of thousands of displaced persons in North Darfur.
The Zam Zam IDP camp, located south of the town of El Fasher, is one of the largest IDP camps, with an estimated population of at least 500,000. The situation has further deteriorated as violence in Sudan has continued for more than 15 months, severely hampering humanitarian access.
“The official statement from the Famine Review Commission confirms what we already knew: people are and have been dying of hunger in Sudan,” Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.
She called on the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to “remove obstacles to aid and allow the free flow of much-needed food, water and medicine across borders and conflict lines”.
Thomas-Greenfield also urged leaders from both sides to attend ceasefire talks scheduled for August 14 in Switzerland.
Areas are classified as IPC Phase 5 (Famine) when at least one in five people or households are reportedly extremely food insecure and facing hunger and poverty, leading to severe malnutrition and death.
The escalating violence in El Fasher has resulted in large-scale clashes, forcing many residents to seek refuge in internally displaced persons camps that lack basic services.
Some 320,000 people are believed to have been displaced from El Fasher since mid-April, while at least 150,000 to 200,000 people have moved to Zamzam refugee camp since mid-May in search of safety, basic services and food.
In just a few weeks, the camp population had swelled to more than half a million people.
There are concerns that restrictions on humanitarian access, including obstacles deliberately imposed by parties to the conflict, are severely limiting the ability of aid agencies to effectively scale up their response.
These obstacles have severely hampered the delivery of necessary assistance, exacerbating the food crisis and pushing some families into famine.
Furthermore, basic human needs for health services, water, food, nutrition, shelter and protection are not being met due to the collapse of multiple sectors in the country.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is urgently appealing to all parties to the war to allow humanitarian organizations safe passage to provide life-saving assistance to communities in the most critical circumstances.
“It is not too late to stop famine from spreading to other parts of Sudan,” said Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme. “To save lives and prevent widespread famine in Sudan, we must be able to reach all areas that need help,” she added.
She added: “The Sudanese people have endured unimaginable hardship since the conflict began and they see us as their lifeline.”
Since conflict broke out in Sudan in mid-April 2023, the World Food Programme has been warning that the hunger crisis will continue to worsen while calling on the warring parties to allow humanitarian aid to enter.
(English stone)
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